


Cavalier

by lait_tea1



Series: Days of Training [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo | Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life, horse riding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24553855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lait_tea1/pseuds/lait_tea1
Summary: Ryan ends up taking horse riding lessons from Cecil. This is more of an attempt at me attempting to write Ryan and explore his personality rather than comedy or the usual stuff.
Relationships: Ryan (Fire Emblem) & Cecil (Fire Emblem)
Series: Days of Training [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760962
Kudos: 1





	Cavalier

**Author's Note:**

> This is... going to be boring, if you're not interested in reading about a general 'Slice of Life' thing that doesn't include the usual attempts at humour/comedy. Also, Kris, Luke and Katarina don't show up because this was going to be a Ryan and Cecil focused one (because I think they're the ones that I write the least about out of the Seventh Platoon). As you might be able to tell, I struggle with writing Ryan. Also, Cecil might be a bit OOC here, but... well, horses! Who doesn't love horses?
> 
> Also, I apologise for any inaccuracies with writing horses/horse-riding stuff in general. I'm basing this off my own initial experience with riding horses in the few times I have tried in my life – I'm not an expert at all, but this fic was basically somewhat me writing about my own experiences using Ryan, haha. So... if you're still interested, then thank you for checking this fic out, and I hope you enjoy!

When Ryan had approached Roderick with his request, specifically because he was the more approachable one out of the three cavaliers in their platoon and he really didn’t want to trust Luke with such a task, he had no idea that he would end up coming face-to-face with the impatient Cecil and her terrifying horse for riding lessons.

(It was something about his horse being ‘too tall’, while Cecil’s horse was apparently smaller. Ryan sometimes severely regretted not having asked Luke instead, because Luke was less intimidating, but then again, he was pretty sure Luke’s horse was very tall, too… and it was Luke, so really, he could only expect the worst.)

_What did I do to deserve this?!_ He thought mournfully to himself as he stared down the long, chestnut-brown snout and specifically at the large teeth that could most definitely snip off a finger if he put his hand anywhere near the horse’s face.

“You have to stop being afraid of horses if you actually want to ride one, you know.” Cecil said dryly.

“I–I know, but…”

Cecil clicked her tongue. Her irritation was clear on her face; Ryan swallowed nervously and briefly wondered whether facing an angry Cecil or her horse would be the better way to go. He squashed the thought; _Think about how useful you can be if you can ride a horse and use your bow at the same time… Brother would be proud of you if you can find your own path, like how he said you should…_

Cecil cleared her throat again. “May won’t bite.” She said matter-of-factly, raising an eyebrow and setting her own hand on her horse’s – er, May’s – snout. Miraculously, the mare did not immediately bite Cecil’s hand off; then again, Cecil wasn’t the one who was holding the bright red apple in her hand.

“Um…” Ryan turned his attention back to the horse. It towered above him, pitch-black eyes gleaming menacingly and lips peeled back slightly to reveal those gnashing teeth. It snorted and suddenly took a step closer, the pen door rattling and the metal lock creaking as it lurched forwards.

Ryan shrieked and fell backwards.

“Shh!” Cecil hissed at him. Already, the other horses in their pens were shifting from hoof to hoof and snorting, clearly agitated. Ryan mumbled a “sorry”, but Cecil abruptly grabbed him under the arms and lifted him back to his feet before he could even react.

“She just wants the apple. Hold it out in your palm, like this.” Cecil adjusted the position of his hand to her liking, peeling back his fingers and yanking his hand out so it was extended in front of him like how he would hold a bow. “There you go. Hold it out to her, and she’ll take it herself.”

Ryan nodded wordlessly, because he didn’t know whether he could muster the courage to say another word (and Cecil was still pinning him with that expectant gaze, and he did not want to disappoint her any further). May was watching him with that exact gaze Cecil was giving him, though there was a vicious gleam in its eyes as it waited patiently for him to get close.

He swallowed nervously and shuffled stiffly towards the pen doors. The wooden gates seemed to loom over him as he approached; he suddenly had the startling revelation that this reminded him of the time his brother had made him deliver a letter to Sir Jagen for him…

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“I’msorry–!” Ryan squeaked, forcing his arm to jerk forwards and nearly flinging the apple straight into the pen. Somehow, he managed to not drop the apple; but almost immediately, it was yanked straight out of his hand anyway and replaced with a spray of warm horse saliva.

But his hand and fingers were intact–!

“There you go. Easy enough, isn’t it?” Cecil ruffled May’s mane as it crunched away at its apple, spraying juice everywhere. However, Cecil didn’t seem to mind at all; in fact, an almost serene expression crossed her face as she stroked its snout.

Suddenly, Ryan felt a little better about Cecil’s horse – and, er, horses in general. In fact, looking at the duo now, May wasn’t that bloodthirsty, now that he thought about it; after all, creatures out for blood wouldn’t be chomping away at apples of all things and letting themselves be pet. And May wasn’t the name of a ferocious creature, after all – though… he wouldn’t know, really. As if noticing his gaze, the horse turned towards him, large dark eyes gleaming.

What he didn’t expect was for Cecil to let out a chuckle. Sounding almost fond, she spoke again. “She thinks you still have more apples. You might not want to stand too close, otherwise she might start nibbling on your hair.”

“W-what?!”

Cecil tsked, though she didn’t sound nearly as irritated as before. “That was… a joke. You don’t have to look so afraid, Ryan. She likes you.”

“Eh–?! She… er, May does?”

Cecil shrugged. “Well, you’re not Luke, so that’s something.”

“That’s…”

“Hah.” Cecil glanced at him, eyebrows lifting as she smiled – and not in the ‘I’m going to demolish everyone on this battlefield’ way. “That was only the start, though. You’re still going to have to learn how to tack up and get the horse ready. I’ll allow you to practice on my horse for now, though… if you really want to go through with this, you’re going to have to find your own one.”

“Er…”

Cecil unlocked the pen by twisting the metal locks at the edge and suddenly pulled the door open with a noisy squeak. Ryan jumped again.

“How are you going to learn anything if you just stand outside – oh, we might need to get a shovel. Or one of the stablehands.”

Ryan swallowed nervously and immediately regretted it, because now Cecil brought it to his attention, it smelled. A lot.

“No, never mind. Cleaning up after a horse is part of a horse rider’s duty, especially when you don’t have stablehands to take.” Cecil clicked her tongue and turned towards him, raising her eyebrows. “A shovel it is…”

-x-x-x-

Ryan grimaced as he wiped the sticky and now-cooling horse slobber off his hand against the wall, finally setting his sullied shovel to the side with a huff.

“We’re going to need more hay.” Cecil noted, scanning the now relatively-clean ground. May blew out a breath and bumped its head against her shoulder. “Yeah, I know. At least it’s gone now, though.”

“You can… understand her?”

“Well.” Cecil paused, then turned towards Ryan slowly as if just realising he was still there. “It’s…” Her voice grew strained very quickly. “You can read their body language if you’re around them enough. That’s all.”

_Wow… that’s quite impressive…_ Ryan glanced at the horse. It blinked at him and blew air into his face too.

He didn’t really understand what that meant, but he was quite new to even being around them; he’d only ever started riding one (Roderick’s, specifically, for ‘faster travel’ on their scouting missions) ever since he met the Seventh Platoon, after all. Even so, he cautiously reached out and petted its nose with his ungloved hand.

May closed her eyes and blew air into his face again.

“You’re really warming up to them fast.” There was almost a hint of pride in Cecil’s voice as she pointed it out. Ryan felt something warm bubble up in his chest, too; in the half hour that he had spent tending to the horse and its pen, he had found out that… horses were not particularly scary. In fact, he’d nearly forgotten the horse was there at all, and now that he was standing right next to it, she hadn’t kicked him or tried to bite off his face or anything. In fact, she was very docilely standing there and letting herself be pet…

“This isn’t… so bad, actually.” He admitted. May seemed to agree; well, actually, he couldn’t really tell, but she did bump him in the cheek with its nose and not bite his face off, so that was probably a good sign. “Maybe… I can actually learn to ride one, after all.”

“It will be difficult at the beginning. But I’d bet, with my help…” Cecil puffed up proudly. “You’ll become the Seventh Platoon’s fourth cavalier, and the one of the best horsemen in Altea. And then we can convince Kris and Katarina to become cavaliers, too…”

“E-er, well, I don’t think we’ll get… that far… especially not with the ‘best horseman’ – er, I just want to be–”

Cecil grinned. “Well, maybe not Katarina, but Kris, now… just imagine his swordsmanship on a horse–”

“I don’t think you’re, er, listening…” Ryan trailed off. _Better not anger her now…_ He thought, glancing at the horse. It seemed to huff in agreement, and he smiled to himself. _If all horses are like Cecil’s horse, then… it might not actually be so bad._

-x-x-x-

“Sit up, heels down! Loosen your grip on the reins; you don’t need to be holding them so tightly.”

After a long session of struggling to get Ryan up on May’s back – he’d forgotten how hard it was to do that – and finally relenting and getting a stool, Cecil’s demeanour had hardened once more. She poked Ryan with the butt of her lance as he struggled to perch upon the saddle in a way that suited Cecil’s taste.

Cecil frowned, knelt down next to the stirrups and gave them a few tugs. Ryan tried to lean over to see what she was doing, but felt himself begin to slide out of the saddle and immediately shuffled back into position again.

_Why did I agree to this again?_ He thought dolefully, trying to remember why he had even thought that riding a horse would be a good idea. Never mind the scorching midday sun – the weather would be perfect for a picnic rather than sweltering on the back of a horse – the ground was very out of reach and he was pretty sure he would break a limb or two if he did end up falling, which currently seemed extremely likely, even if May wasn’t moving right now. He yelped as Cecil poked him with her lance again. “Sit straight and relax your legs. I need to fix the stirrup length.”

She went back to tugging at the belts hanging under the saddle next to his left leg and occasionally poking him with her lance. Ryan realised he had unconsciously been squeezing the reins with his hands and did his best to try loosen them – after all, if he were to ride a horse and use a bow at the same time, he’d definitely need to use both hands – but he could _feel_ himself slipping and immediately tightened his grip again.

He tried to focus his attention on the closest thing in front of him, which happened to be May’s twitching ear. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his pounding heart and released it slowly, watching it ruffle the bristles of the horse’s mane.

_This… isn’t actually too high up._ He reassured himself. _When I ride with Roderick, his horse is much taller and the ground is much farther away, and I’ve not fallen yet…_

May suddenly lurched forwards a step. He muffled his terrified squawk by biting down on his lip hard and squeezing the reins again.

Cecil was immediately at May’s side, shushing her and stroking her neck. She glanced up at Ryan again. “Calm down; she’s not going anywhere yet.”

“W-why did she–”

“Horses are living beings. They have needs and wants too.” Cecil clicked her tongue and stepped back with a length of rope in her hand. “You won’t be able to find any horse that’s willing to run off into battle. They have to be trained, and you have to form a bond with your horse, so don’t expect to just be able to grab any horse off a field and be able to rush into battle.”

She extended her hand to reveal that the rope was wrapped securely around her fist. Ryan followed the rope to the other end, where it was clipped to what appeared to be May’s bridle.

“I’ll guide you first so you can get a feel.” Cecil explained. “You’re fortunate to get a horse that’s already been trained, so you won’t have to worry about it bolting or throwing you into a tree.”

“W-what?”

“Just sit tight.” She instructed, ignoring his exclamation. “I’ll guide you around a circle on the field; just hold the reins and keep your feet in the stirrups.”

Before he could say anything else, she clicked her tongue again and suddenly the horse lurched forwards again. Ryan bit his lip again and tried not to resort to curling up into a ball on the horse (if that was even possible) as the horse began to lope forwards.

_This isn’t actually – it’s not as difficult to stay on as I thought._ He gradually let his fingers uncurl from the reins; the gentle sway of the horse’s movement was almost relaxing, and he realised that with his feet actually in the stirrups, sliding out of the saddle wasn’t as big a problem as he’d anticipated. He actually enjoyed the all-too-short clop around the track, and nearly forgot that he wasn’t actually the one guiding the horse before they suddenly pulled to a stop.

Cecil squinted up at him through the sunlight. “Simple enough, right? Then we’re moving on.”

“Er, yes…!”

Cecil’s expression didn’t change, but there was a note of pride in her voice as she spoke again. “If you want to control a horse, you need to communicate with it; and you do that through actions. A squeeze to the flanks with your legs is ‘go’. A kick – it’s more of a tap, really – with the left foot is ‘right’, and the right foot is ‘left’ –”

“Wait, why?”

Ryan gulped as Cecil’s gaze slowly turned to him. _Oh no, I shouldn’t have just said that out loud – she’s going to think I’m questioning her when I don’t even know anything about this–_

Cecil frowned. Thankfully, though, it didn’t look like she was angry at him. “Well… that’s… naturally, you lean towards the opposite side that you kick with, so moving in the saddle… well, I’ve never been told. But that’s how most horses here in Altea are trained anyway…”

“Oh…”

“Never mind.” She cleared her throat again. “And tugging back on the reins is ‘stop’. Those are the basic commands that you will have to know. Got it?”

“Y-yes, I think so!” He nodded vigorously, quickly running through the instructions in his head. _Kick to go, kick the horse’s side to move the opposite way… or was it the other way round? Left to turn right, and… er, that sounds right…_

He gave May as gentle a tap as possible with the heels of his boots.

“You don’t have to worry too much about hurting her – you can squeeze a little harder.”

Ryan obediently did as asked. When the horse lurched forwards again, this time, he was ready – he shifted in the saddle and ran through all the instructions that Cecil had ingrained in his head. _Heels down, straighten your back… don’t pull the reins, er, and…_

“I’m glad you agreed to teach Ryan to ride a horse; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so willing to do something this risky in ages…” Roderick paused as he approached the outer fence of the riding fields. “Cecil, don’t you have to… guide him?”

“Oh?” Cecil glanced at the other cavalier, waving a hand dismissively. “I’ve taught him the basic instructions. He knows how to go, to turn, to stop…”

“…I still think you should accompany him though, just to be safe.”

“Nonsense.” She scoffed and glanced out at where her horse was slowly clopping away in a straight line through the middle of the field, with Ryan a green speck on its back. “He’s doing fine, and my horse is disciplined and well trained. Are you doubting May’s ability?”

“No, I’m not, but – this is his first time riding, isn’t it?” Roderick frowned. “I really think it’s a not a good idea…”

-x-x-x-

A warm rush of pride had filled Ryan’s chest as he continued. Even though he hadn’t done anything quite yet, it was still thrilling to simply sit upon the back of such a magnificent creature. _How was I ever afraid of her?_ He thought, sliding a hand – with the reins still partially in his grasp, because he wasn’t that confident yet – through May’s dark mane.

With a start, he noticed the fence at the other side of the riding fields were approaching. _I guess I need to turn, then… which leg was it again? So if I want to turn right, I use the other leg… that’s my left leg – right?_

He turned towards Cecil to ask for confirmation.

There was nobody there. He twisted around to his right, but Cecil wasn’t there either.

“Cecil?” He called, stretching up as tall as he could to try peer down the bridles hanging down at the front of the horse.

He blinked. Aside from the horse’s head, there was nothing else in front of him.

“Cecil?!” He raised his voice, a note of desperation taking hold as he quickly realised that there was nobody with him and nobody here that was helping to guide the horse in case –

_Oh no, we’re nearly at the fence, we’re going to run into the fence, oh–_

-x-x-x-

Both of them winced at the terrified shriek that rang out across the riding field.

“What–?!” Cecil swore to herself and began to run across the sandy field. “What has he gotten into?!”

Roderick moved to follow, lengthening his strides to keep up. They arrived by the young archer’s side in no time at all, only to find–

Ryan trembled from where he was curled up against the horse’s back with his hands tangled in the reins. The two had come to a stop in front of the fence, and May had dipped her head down through the fence’s bars to graze at the grass outside.

Cecil let out a snort. “Ryan, she’s eating because you’re not giving her instructions. Here–” She took the bridle and tugged May’s head back up, clicking her tongue. She took a few steps towards her right, forcing May to turn around and away from the grass. “There you go. Nothing to worry about.”

“You should probably accompany him back, though.” Roderick recommended in place of Ryan, who seemed too petrified to speak right now. “Just to be safe… in case there’s any sort of accident. Or at least, to reassure him…”

Cecil stared at him for a long moment, then finally sighed and relented. “Fine. This is the first lesson, after all.”

“T-there are more lessons–?” Ryan stammered, suddenly regaining the ability to speak now the horse was upright and he wasn’t sliding out of the saddle again.

“You can’t really expect to learn how to ride a horse in a day.” Roderick reasoned, quickly moving to reassure the other boy before Cecil could say anything. “Besides, there is a lot to learn. We might not be able to teach you how to wield a bow on a horse…”

“We?” Cecil hissed, but Roderick continued. “…but if you want to be anywhere close to doing that, you will have to learn how to ride a horse normally. Do you think you can handle that?”

“…y-yes… I… think so?”

“Good.” Roderick nodded, and sent Ryan an encouraging nod. “Be patient. You will learn, soon enough; but don’t worry, because we’ll – or Cecil’ll – be by your side until you can ride on your own.” He shot Cecil a look, and Cecil glared back – though not particularly fiercely.

“Um…” Ryan swallowed nervously at the stare-off going in between the two cavaliers. However, Cecil’s expression softened and she let out another sigh, but didn’t look particularly angry anymore. “…I apologise for that,” she admitted, “But I promise I’ll continue guiding you until you’re a fully capable cavalier. And then… perhaps we can get Kris and Katarina to join along.”

Ryan felt some of his previous fear dissipate at the thought, and he smiled weakly. “That… that would be–” He paused, trying to picture the two other squires on a horse.

He could only imagine Kris plowing through hordes of enemies on the back of an equally intimidating horse, and wondered whether that would be anywhere close to a good idea. Even so, with the two cavaliers’ gazes on him, he tried to bury his concerns and smile more genuinely. “Thank you, Cecil… for the lesson. And thank you, Roderick…”

He paused, and reached out to pet May’s head. “Thank you, May.”

It was a little awkward talking out loud to a horse, but Roderick or Cecil didn’t laugh at him, so he felt a little better about that. May nickered softly, ears twitching, and he giggled despite himself.

“That’s enough for the day, then.” Cecil said, reaching out to clip her rope to May’s bridle again. “Let’s get her back to the stables and wash her off.”

“Aw… already?”

“You’ll get plenty more chances to practice, don’t worry.” Roderick almost looked amused at Ryan’s disappointment. “Perhaps one day, you’ll get your own horse… and you can ride it around as much as you want.”

“W-well, that’s – that’s not really…”

May huffed. Ryan quickly moved to pet her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not – I mean, you’re Cecil’s horse, so I can’t really…”

Roderick chuckled. “He seems to have warmed up to your horse quite a lot, Cecil.” He remarked quietly as they began to tread back to the entrance of the riding field. “I’m surprised – he used to be quite jumpy, even around my own horse.”

“It’s hard not to love May.” Cecil puffed up proudly, unconsciously running a hand along her horse’s coat as she spoke. “Unless you’re Luke… then I’m proud that even May recognises him for how irritating he is.”

“Hm.” Roderick frowned. “Well, Luke’s not that bad – at least, he’s improved a little now…”

“Ha! You say that as if you weren’t there when he attempted to flirt with the cleric’s new apprentice last week…”

Ryan let their conversation fade out into the background. Now that he was surrounded by people who actually knew what they were doing, and the sole responsibility of commanding the horse wasn’t on him… a familiar peace came over him. The sun still gleamed bright and hot overhead, but a cool breeze had picked up; _You know,_ he reminisced with a smile, _It’s actually perfect weather for horse-riding today…_


End file.
